by Ken B » Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:15 pm
I think a lot of what is in those threads (or at least the ones that came up in the top of my google search) is arguing semantics. What a lot of folks are discussing is what wok hai might be, whereas you seem to be specifically looking to recreate a certain flavor/aroma.
I'm not particularly interested in delving into the arguments about "breathing life into your cooking" or the freshness of the food or how hot it is when it hits the table.
I've always loved that flavor and sought to replicate it, but found it by accident. I'm lucky, the previous owner of the home I bought put in a Vulcan cooktop, so I can really crank it. Since it is a pro cooktop, it also has extra large burners, which are larger than many home cooking pans. I was sauteeing something once at a fairly high heat, and some of the oil got ignited by the flames licking around the pan. I immediately identified the aroma and recalled seeing cooks working the woks in Chinese restaurants, seeing the wok oil get lit slightly as they turned the wok and the ingredients, and figured out that's where it came from.
If you are brave, you can almost replicate it. Use a saute pan with a rounded bottom or at least rounded corners. Get everything set to saute, and use just a touch more oil than you might otherwise, but not enough to risk pouring a pool of oil onto your burner. Get the pan so hot the oil will smoke within seconds of being put in, and when you put the oil in follow it immediately with the ingredients. As you toss them (and do so vigorously), tilt the pan so some of the hot oil catches the flames. I guarantee you will smell that aroma, and if you get it right, get that flavor in the food. Make sure your kitchen vent is on too, because you will also set off your smoke alarm.
One warning: this is really hard to replicate with noodles on a home stove. If the hydration of your noodles is a little off, the combination of heat and oil and cooking surface not perfect, the noodles will burn to the pan and may ruin it for good.
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